Discussing Sally Mann...

[CarlRadford]

started to look at some of Sally Manns images after a discussing an image by Kerik Kouklis. I find some of the images quite challenging on a personal level - coming from a very liberal but social work background probably makes me think too much. I have read about Jock Sturgess and some similarities! Are this intimate portraits one would consider are normally done for the family ablum - the skill of the photographer takes these images to another level but is that public and are people being exploited somehow - I am sure they are not! A lot of work has gone into making these as it appears that most of the family images are all 10x8s!

http://www.morehousegallery.com/imag...0s%2000003.jpg

http://www.brown.edu/Administration/...7/96-057a.jpeg

not sure if this last one is by Sally Mann?

http://personal.centenary.edu/~jhend...s_LKM0157B.jpg

Interested in any thoughts.

[doughowk]

There was a rather heated discussion of her on Pure-Silver list. I'm not a fan of hers or Meatyard; and haven't accepted snapshots as fine art. The nudity in Mann's & Sturgis' images would be less controversial if we weren't such an uptight society. Then we could better judge whether their prints were fine art.

[SuzanneR]

No... I think the last one is Jock Sturges??

Doug... do you consider her and Meatyard's work snapshots? Exploring one's intimate and emotional connection to family through the camera can yield extraordinary results. In many ways, those familial emotional connections are universal, and her work... as well as Meatyard and Emmet Gowin are so rich visually and emotionally, that to call them snapshots hardly seems a fair assessment.

I'm not without my criticism of her work, as many of her images are so self-conscious of the camera, and a few... well, just aren't that good to my eye. But overall, I appreciate the journey she took in mining the emotional connections in her life.

[CarlRadford]

Doug - I'd have to agree that I think it dismissive to call them snapshots - and do they have to be fine art to have significance/worth/value?

Suzanne - this by Gowin fits the same theme:

http://www.masters-of-photography.co...ijah_full.html

When did this become unnatural/challenging/taboo for supposed civilised societies?

[BarryWilkinson]

When did this become unnatural/challenging/taboo for supposed civilised societies?

I'd like to offer a personal answer this Carl but I'd probably be burnt at the stake. So I'll give it a miss for now.

Barry

[Jim Noel]

Anyone with an open mind who has seen a Jock Sturges original print will have no difficulty knowing they are fine art, not snapshots.

[jstraw]

Anyone with an open mind who has seen a Jock Sturges original print will have no difficulty knowing they are fine art, not snapshots.

And no one with a functioning brain cell would mistake them for pornography.

[bjorke]

Anyone with an open mind who has seen a Jock Sturges original print will have no difficulty knowing they are fine art, not snapshots.

The same can be said of Mann's. The kids pictured often helped make the prints, btw.

Jock's prints are, imo, the best. period.

And this is on my list of best couple dozen pics ever made:

[Denis P.]

Well, I guess I could say I like most of Sally Mann's "Immediate Family" photos - the book itself is a prized posession (The first two photos are indeed Sally Mann's - from the book "Immediate Family").

Some of the photos are indeed disturbing - but the ones I find most disturbing are usually the ones people don't usually mention - like "Jessie and the Deer", "Squirrel Season", "Flour Paste" or "Jessie's Cut". Probably because I'm squemish at the sight of blood and/or slaughtered/skinned animals :o (and as a father of two rather active boys, aged 5 and 7).

As for controversy due to nudity of the children, we've discussed the same issue about Sally Mann here on apug before - use the search engine to find the thread... It's a discussion I'd rather avoid, since it tends to get rather heated pretty quickly.

It's been discussed here before.

Denis

PS: originally, I wrote a lot more in my originaly reply, but thought twice about it, and decided to delete the most of it... Nothing inappropriate, offensive or rude - I'd just rather not enter into discussion about morality, nudity, etc...

[Amund]

Sally Mann and Jock Sturges are my two of my favorite photographers, and how anyone can call their photographs snapshots or pornography is beyond me.

I`ve seen Sally Manns prints and they are absolutely beautiful, and I own a Jock Sturges print, wich is incredibly nice, if that isn`t "fine art" , nothing is IMNTLBFHO...